Am I not cut out for IT?

Hey everyone,

So I am working at a technical support job right now, and I hate it. I have recently been doing research into other IT jobs, but the more I read about the IT world, the more I question whether I am even in the right field.

At my current job I am constantly stressed, I dislike the work, I work closer to 60 hours a week than the expected 40, and I'm not really learning anything valuable. I like computers and technology in general, but ultimately I don't want a job that will consume my whole life and stress me to death.

Every time I see someone describing their career in IT, they talk about the high stress, the long hours, and the need to constantly be on top of new technology. What seems to keep these people going is that they are passionate about IT. I don't have that passion. I like computers, I am good with computers, but I'm not passionate.

So I wanted to run this question by techs who might be kind enough to give me advice: do I sound like I am just not cut out for IT? Are there any IT jobs that aren't so demanding? I don't mind working hard and occasionally putting in long hours, but I don't handle high-stress positions well (I get a knot in my stomach just thinking about my current job).

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Comments

JustFred

DigitalZeroOne wrote: »

Since I can only go by what I read, the short answer would be that you are not cut out for IT, but it does go deeper than that. I have worked at jobs where 1 person can make the difference in how much you like your job, it's all in how you deal with problems. .

In my case it has been complete hell from day one. My colleague who has been there for years spends most of his time torturing me. I have spoken to the boss about it and apparently he cannot do much as my colleague was hired by someone in the higher up of the company.

I don't like going to work now and am mostly shaking while doing the work and hoping i don't make any mistakes because he will throw another tantrum.

The only time i feel at ease is when he's not in the office, a phone call from him makes me want to throw up out of fear that i did something wrong. His ideas are good and mine are always bad, even when i suggest a solution he just ignores me and spends hours or days looking for a solution himself.

I have now been slowly applying for network jobs and hopefully i will be able to find something new and a fresh start.

thronetm

FredWatanabe wrote: »

In my case it has been complete hell from day one. My colleague who has been there for years spends most of his time torturing me. I have spoken to the boss about it and apparently he cannot do much as my colleague was hired by someone in the higher up of the company.

I don't like going to work now and am mostly shaking while doing the work and hoping i don't make any mistakes because he will throw another tantrum.

The only time i feel at ease is when he's not in the office, a phone call from him makes me want to throw up out of fear that i did something wrong. His ideas are good and mine are always bad, even when i suggest a solution he just ignores me and spends hours or days looking for a solution himself.

I have now been slowly applying for network jobs and hopefully i will be able to find something new and a fresh start.

Seriously, put your foot down. He's just another colleague like you, I wouldn't let him try and torture anyone who does he think he is?

I would actually go to the person who did employ him and let him/her know what kind of person you have to put up with.

drkat

Knock him out.

Well sort of, if he is giving you a hard time and being a prick, put your foot down. You dont have to put up with any of that stuff and you can take it to HR if you need to.

Everyone

Have you stepped back and asked yourself what you are passionate about?

To really enjoy your career AND be really great at it, you have to be passionate about it. If you don't, it will never be anything more than a "job". At best you'll tolerate it. It will just be that thing you have to do to pay the bills.

I am passionate about IT. Going a little deeper than that, there are 2 specific areas in IT that I am really passionate about. Exchange, and Information Security. I've been told I was hired for my current position because of that passion. I may have been working a little too much lately, but it wasn't because I had to, so it hasn't been stressful. My extra hours have been a result of my passion carrying me away. So far it has been the best job of my career.

certs4me

TechJ wrote: »

So I wanted to run this question by techs who might be kind enough to give me advice: do I sound like I am just not cut out for IT? Are there any IT jobs that aren't so demanding? I don't mind working hard and occasionally putting in long hours, but I don't handle high-stress positions well (I get a knot in my stomach just thinking about my current job).

I have the same concerns and I'm sure many others do. I think in bigger companies or institutions IT jobs can be less stressful. I once did desktop support for a big organization and the hours were reasonable.

I had a job doing proprietary tech support and the hours were manageable and the work was interesting but it was low status. An opportunity came along for a job doing in-house IT support at the same company and I took it. Suddenly my workload and hours dramatically increased. The IT Dept. was poorly funded due to the perception that IT Infrastructure is seen as a cost center and not a profit center. We were understaffed. Many times I was working alone supporting hundreds of users and several sites. We were responsible for everything - spread too thin. I disliked being on call all the time - never really being able to switch off at the end of the day. One colleague didn't mind working 12 hrs + per day. You were expected to work from home although this wasn't explicitly mentioned. Also I was constantly getting interrupted by users visiting my desk while trying to work on projects to improve the network. I enjoy IT work but not when you are stretched like that. I'd prefer a position where I was responsible for just 2 or 3 specific areas and I wasn't sucked into constant firefighting.

It's when you become responsible for too many areas of IT that it gets stressful. I don't mind putting in long hours occasionally to complete work either but when this becomes normal it's a problem for me. Also having colleagues you get on with is important as well. IT shouldn't be a job just for workaholics.

pinkydapimp

TechJ wrote: »

Wow, I wasn't expecting so many replies! I really appreciate all of the input.

The reason I say I am not learning anything valuable at my job is that the support we offer centers around the specific software my company markets. The troubleshooting process does require me to investigate Windows environments, servers, SQL databases, and MS Office applications, but the depth of interaction with those things is pretty shallow. I'm not exactly gaining experience that will propel me forward in an IT career. Once I leave my company, most of my knowledge gained will be useless since it only pertains to the niche product I was supporting.

I actually like my boss and my co-workers. And the customers we support could honestly be a lot worse than they are. I think it's just the nature of the support position that's making me feel fried. I barely have time to think about one issue before another one rolls in, which is difficult because I'm scatterbrained and get stressed juggling a bunch of issues at once.

So while I recognize that a lot of my frustration is tied to this particular job, it has still caused me to reflect on my career path from a different perspective. I feel like I have the mind for IT. I just don't know if I can physically handle the stress and long hours.

And it's not like I have never had stress at a job before. I had a part-time QA position before this one. That job had its stressful moments, but I didn't feel overwhelmed and I liked the work okay.

I have considered internal Desktop Support, but I don't know if it would really be much of an improvement. I've heard heard enough horror stories about Desktop Support to make me wary.

At any rate, I will definitely give it some time and reflection before just deciding to call it quits. I may just be feeling burned out at my current job. I'll be reading and re-reading the advice in this thread over the coming weeks.

what you are doing is a trend that alot of IT roles are going. Everything is moving towards technology and there are apps for everything that are driving tons of revenue for software companies. they always need people to support this software. You are learning how to troubleshoot, work with customers and such and these skills can be transferred to other roles supporting software. Post sales engineering roles are similar to this. Take a look into those type of roles. Not all workplaces have a poor quality of life. Some are better than others. but at the end of the day, to be successful, you have to work hard. There is no easy route to success.

RouteMyPacket

Repo Man wrote: »

Sounds like you need to switch companies.

I would do this as well first, then decide later.

Legacy User

You're desktop support......Are you on the phones all day fixing stupid stuff? If that is the case work towards SysAdmin or Networking...That will get you off the desktop support side of things...

Let me tell you just a small amount about my job. I work for a hospital..I have total autonomy. No one tells me what to do or asks me what I am doing. I was described what my position was when I started and told what the goal was. I find projects and complete them. My job is normal hours granted the occasional evening maintenance window and totally low stress. There are occasions when things break and stress levels rise but overall my job is low stress. It is that way because I made it that way. I could make it high stress if I wanted to. I could work in a way that requires constant supervision. But I have made an all out effort to be able to have autonomy. And autonomy is the best.